About the Green Dragon classified ad that’s gone viral in Oklahoma City

If you have a Facebook page and live in Oklahoma City, there's a good chance you've seen the Oklahoman classified ad asking someone to slay the green dragon that's been seen flying around Northeast OKC.

If you're one of the 17 people without a Facebook account and think good old Patrick's losing his mind, I don't blame you. Here's the ad to prove my sanity:

Yeah, that's kind of funny. Too bad it's not original and seems to be just a desperate attempt by the Oklahoman to increase dwindling classified revenues. I did about five minutes of research on this ad and here are two things I learned:

1. It appears to be a self promotion ad for the Oklahoma Classifieds. No, some crazy prankster did not run this thing to get a laugh out of his friends. Take a look at the black box underneath the ad. The letters are cut off, but it appears to say "To submit your funny classifieds." I don't have a copy of the paper in front of me, but I assume the second line of the text reads something like "contact the Oklahoman at 405-475-3000."

Also, to confirm my suspicion that this is just a cheesy self promotion spot, the listing is not found online at JobsOK.com. However, the other ads in the pic, like the "Licensed Plumber Needed," are found in the Oklahoman's online listings.

2. The ad isn't original. It was first posted to Craigslist back in April of 2012. Know what's kind of shitty? To steal someone else's work and then pass it off on your own. That appears to be what the Oklahoman did. Here's a screenshot from the original ad on Craigslist. All they did was change the location from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Oklahoma City:

In all honesty, I'm kind of shocked the Oklahoma did this. The random dude who came up with the original idea could probably sue the paper for plagiarism. Wouldn't that be kind of fun? I would track him down and tell him they are stealing his intellectual property, but he's probably stoned and waiting in line to watch the Hobbit, which I'm worried may become this decade's version of the Star Wars prequels.